Review
`An ideal present for anyone addicted to Sudoku-like puzzles and beginning to wonder what might lie beyond' --Spectator
Book Description
A new trove of entrancing numbers and delightful mathematical nibbles for adventurous minds
Product Description
Ian Stewart, author of the bestselling Professor Stewart's Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities, presents a new and magical mix of games, puzzles, paradoxes, brainteasers, and riddles. He mingles these with forays into ancient and modern mathematical thought, appallingly hilarious mathematical jokes, and enquiries into the great mathematical challenges of the present and past. Amongst a host of arcane and astonishing facts about every kind of number from irrational or imaginary to complex or cuneiform, we find out: how to organise chaos how matter balances anti-matter how to turn a sphere inside out (without creasing it ...) why you can't comb a hairy ball how to calculate pi by observing the stars And we get some tantalising glimpses of the maths of life and the universe. Mind-stretching, enlightening and endlessly amusing, Professor Stewart's new entertainment will stimulate, delight, and enthral.
From the Inside Flap
Ian Stewart, author of the bestselling Professor Stewart's Cabniet of Mathematical Curiosities, presents a new and magical mix of games, puzzles, paradoxes, brainteasers, and riddles. Again taken from his own treasure house of mathematical delights, these are the things you won't have learned in mathes at school - things that are marvellous, mysterious, unexpected, fun. He mingles these with forays into ancient and modern mathematical thought, mathematical jokes, and enquiries into the great mathematical challenges of the present and past. Among a host of arcane and astonishing facts about every kind of number, from irrational or imaginary to complex or cuneiform, we find out how matter balances anti-matter, the secrets of the great global warming swindle (or is it...?), how to work out the surface area of an ostrich egg, what Leonhard Euler had to do with pirates and who invented the equals sign. On the way we learn how to make and break codes, how to feed a greedy algorithm and what happened when the probability theorist William Feller tried to get a table through a doorway. This hoard of mathematical gems and marvellous explanations is scattered with tantalising glimpses of the maths of life and the universe. Mind-stretching, enlightening and endlessly amusing for hardened expert or cautious newcomer, Professor Stewart's new entertainment will stimulate, delight and enthrall.
From the Back Cover
In this next drawer from the cabinet of mathematical curiosities, you will discover: - How codes are made and how to break them - How falling cats land on their feet - How to turn a sphere inside out (without creasing it) - Why you can't comb a hairy ball - What Emperor Frederick II asked Leonardo of Pisa - And how to calculate pi by observing the stars Professor Stewart's remarkable revelations will tease, tantalise and amaze - and above all they will keep you on your toes.
About the Author
Ian Stewart is a Mathematics Professor at Warwick University. His many books include Mathematics of Life, Professor Stewart's Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities, and The Science of Discworld trilogy with Terry Pratchett. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, appears frequently on radio and television, and does research on pattern formation and network dynamics.
